After years of announcements, litigation, and conspiracies, The Onion has launched their takeover of Infowars. With new ownership, lead hothead Alex Jones has been replaced with comedian Tim Heidecker of Awesome Show, On Cinema and Us fame. While still not through all the legal weeds, The Onion collaborated with the Sandy Hook families to secure the omnipresent conspiracy hub for their own purposes.
“I am wearing his (Alex Jones) skin,” said Heidecker in an impersonation that will absolutely ravage his throat over time. “I’ve been wearing his skin now for about two weeks. It is tough skin. It is Texas skin. It’s leathery.”
The Onion debuted Heidecker’s first Infowars broadcast late Friday night, where he hollered and yammered just as Jones had before him. Over the short stream, Heidecker-as-Jones fielded calls from other comedians impersonating the likes of President Donald Trump and, in one confused mirror-match, one initiating a stammer-off with their Alex Jones impression.
Jones and his uncanny affect has been a target of Heidecker for nearly a decade. He’s mocked his voice in numerous podcasts, and exported it to The People’s Joker in his turn as Daily Planet editor Perry White. When news of his placement first dropped, fans shared clips of Heidecker impersonating Jones to an Infowars reporter at the 2016 Republican National Convention, which he invaded alongside Adult Swim star Eric Andre. Less chuffed, Jones has spent the final days of Infowars sharing vintage Tim and Eric clips, suggesting the child clown outlet skit is evidence of a human trafficking ring (despite the outlet clearly stating they forbid touching the clowns without a stick).
A surreal and often sad affair, The Onion put in a bid in 2024, following Infowars filing for bankruptcy in 2022. That filing occurred after the courts decided Jones and his site owed the Sandy Hook families $1.3 billion in damages. False flag accusations being a tradition at Infowars since it began in 1999, Jones spent years claiming the families were paid actors and that the Connecticut school shooting, where 20 children were killed, was staged. Some felt it wasn’t ethical for The Onion to trade off any money for Jones’ operation, until it came to light that it was done in collaboration with the Sandy Hook families and gun safety groups.
Scandal aside, it hasn’t been a smooth turnover. At the request of Jones, judges have blocked the takeover in a multi-year game of keepaway. This April, The Onion announced a new licensing deal, seemingly motoring ahead with Heidecker in tow. At the last minute, a Texas appeals court added one more obstruction, which seems to have been done with the intent of keeping the ownership in limbo. Despite that, Jones closed Infowars’ office this week, the site is offline, and The Onion is now broadcasting under its name.
The Onion and Heidecker’s Infowars reign seems to flip its traditions. While Jones wanted to parlay a conspiracy of bioengineering to turn the frogs gay, Heidecker told Sam Seder he wants the platform to become a hub for trans comedy. While the previous Infowars was buoyed by dubious powders and health supplements, The Onion’s Infowars promises health hacks to turn your piss into gold. And while Jones raved for years about a disgusting cabal of celebrity satanists, I remain hopeful that Gregg Turkington will ease us off with amazing Hollywood trivia for movie buffs.
